One Year After ISIS 'Defeat', Syria's Raqqa Still in Fear

A member of Raqqa's Internal Security Forces mans a checkpoint at the entrance of the Syrian city that was ruled by ISIS until a year ago | AFP
A member of Raqqa's Internal Security Forces mans a checkpoint at the entrance of the Syrian city that was ruled by ISIS until a year ago | AFP
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One Year After ISIS 'Defeat', Syria's Raqqa Still in Fear

A member of Raqqa's Internal Security Forces mans a checkpoint at the entrance of the Syrian city that was ruled by ISIS until a year ago | AFP
A member of Raqqa's Internal Security Forces mans a checkpoint at the entrance of the Syrian city that was ruled by ISIS until a year ago | AFP

A year after a US-backed alliance of Syrian fighters drove the ISIS terrorist group from the northern city of Raqqa, traumatized civilians still live in fear of near-daily bombings.

"Every day we wake up to the sound of an explosion," said resident Khaled al-Darwish.

"We're scared to send our children to school... there's no security," he added.

The hardliners' brutal rule in Raqqa was brought to an end in October 2017 after a months-long ground offensive by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces supported by air strikes from a US-led coalition.

But despite manning roadblocks at every street corner, the SDF and the city's newly created Internal Security Forces are struggling to stem infiltration by ISIS sleeper cells.

At Raqqa's entrance, soldiers verify drivers' identity papers and carefully sift through lorry cargoes.

Inside the city, there are regular foot patrols and armored vehicles sit at strategic points.

Women wearing the niqab are asked to show their faces to female security members before entering public buildings.

"If there wasn't fear about a return of ISIS, there wouldn't be this increased military presence," said Darwish, a father of two, speaking near the infamous Paradise Square.

It was here that ISIS carried out decapitations and other brutal punishments, earning the intersection a new name -- "the roundabout of hell".

While the nightmare of extremist rule may be gone, most of the city still lies in ruins and there are near-daily attacks on checkpoints and military vehicles, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Although a series of stinging defeats have cut ISIS's so-called caliphate down to desert hideouts, militants still manage to hit beyond the patches of ground they overtly control.

Some Raqqa residents say the city's new security forces lack the expertise to cope.

"We are exhausted. Every day we don't know if we will die in a bomb explosion or if we will go home safe and sound," said Abu Younes, sitting in his supermarket near a roundabout not far from Paradise Square.

"There is no security -- (the new security forces) on the roadblocks are not qualified and there is a lot of negligence," he complained.

"There are faults that enable ISIS to infiltrate the city easily and carry out attacks."

But despite the continued attacks, a semblance of normal life has returned to the city.

Shops have reopened and traffic has returned to major roads -- albeit choked by the impromptu checkpoints.

In a public garden, children climb up a multi-colored slide and onto dilapidated swings as their mothers sit on nearby benches carefully keeping watch.

They are set amidst an apocalyptic backdrop of twisted metal and splayed balconies -- the remnants of buildings torn apart by US-led coalition air raids.

Nearby, Ahmed al-Mohammed pauses as he listens to music on his phone. Like others, he does not hide his disquiet.

"We're scared because of the presence of ISIS members in the city," the 28-year-old said.

"The security forces need to tighten their grip."

Ahmed Khalaf, who commands Raqqa's Internal Security Forces, defended the work of his men and claimed successes against the jihadists.

He said patrols are highly organized and that a "joint operation cell" had recently been established with coalition forces to monitor the city's security.

"Recently we arrested four (extremists) -- it was a cell that took part in attacks that terrorized the city," said Khalaf, sporting plain green fatigues.

"We are continuing our investigation to uncover the other cells," he added.

"Daesh's goal is to destroy the country and to not let anyone live in safety," he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Security and stability are what Najla al-Ahmed wants most for her children.

"The nightmare of ISIS follows us everywhere -- whenever we try to rest, explosions start up again," said the 36-year-old, as she shopped with her young ones.

"The war has worn us out. Us and our children. It has destroyed our future," she said.



Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.

On the eve of launching strikes on Iran, his government looked to be on the verge of collapse, with a drive to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews threatening to scupper his fragile coalition.

Nearly two years on from Hamas's unprecedented attack in 2023, Netanyahu was under growing domestic criticism for his handling of the war in Gaza, where dozens of hostages remain unaccounted for, said AFP.

Internationally too, he was coming under pressure including from longstanding allies, who since the war with Iran began have gone back to expressing support.

Just days ago, polls were predicting Netanyahu would lose his majority if new elections were held, but now, his fortunes appear to have reversed, and Israelis are seeing in "Bibi" the man of the moment.

– 'Reshape the Middle East' –

For decades, Netanyahu has warned of the risk of a nuclear attack on Israel by Iran -- a fear shared by most Israelis.

Yonatan Freeman, a geopolitics expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu's argument that the pre-emptive strike on Iran was necessary draws "a lot of public support" and that the prime minister has been "greatly strengthened".

Even the opposition has rallied behind him.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one," opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed.

A poll published Saturday by a conservative Israeli channel showed that 54 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the prime minister.

The public had had time to prepare for the possibility of an offensive against Iran, with Netanyahu repeatedly warning that Israel was fighting for its survival and had an opportunity to "reshape the Middle East."

During tit-for-tat military exchanges last year, Israel launched air raids on targets in Iran in October that are thought to have severely damaged Iranian air defenses.

Israel's then-defense minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes had shifted "the balance of power" and had "weakened" Iran.

"In fact, for the past 20 months, Israelis have been thinking about this (a war with Iran)," said Denis Charbit, a political scientist at Israel's Open University.

Since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Netanyahu has ordered military action in Gaza, against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as targets in Syria where long-time leader Bashar al-Assad fell in December last year.

"Netanyahu always wants to dominate the agenda, to be the one who reshuffles the deck himself -- not the one who reacts -- and here he is clearly asserting his Churchillian side, which is, incidentally, his model," Charbit said.

"But depending on the outcome and the duration (of the war), everything could change, and Israelis might turn against Bibi and demand answers."

– Silencing critics –

For now, however, people in Israel see the conflict with Iran as a "necessary war," according to Nitzan Perelman, a researcher specialized in Israel at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France.

"Public opinion supports this war, just as it has supported previous ones," she added.

"It's very useful for Netanyahu because it silences criticism, both inside the country and abroad."

In the weeks ahead of the Iran strikes, international criticism of Netanyahu and Israel's military had reached unprecedented levels.

After more than 55,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, and a blockade that has produced famine-like conditions there, Israel has faced growing isolation and the risk of sanctions, while Netanyahu himself is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

But on Sunday, two days into the war with Iran, the Israeli leader received a phone call from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has held talks with numerous counterparts.

"There's more consensus in Europe in how they see Iran, which is more equal to how Israel sees Iran," explained Freeman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that Israel was doing "the dirty work... for all of us."

The idea that a weakened Iran could lead to regional peace and the emergence of a new Middle East is appealing to the United States and some European countries, according to Freeman.

But for Perelman, "Netanyahu is exploiting the Iranian threat, as he always has."